Fake goods worth more than Ksh8.5 billion have been nabbed in the country in a crackdown spanning between May and October this year.
Anti-Counterfeit Agency (ACA), the body responsible for the operation, managed, for the same period, to nail more than 200 suspects.
ACA Chief Executive Officer Elema Halake noted that most of the goods seized were households such as foodstuff, cooking gas, cigarettes, textiles among others.
He further explained that the counterfeit goods situation is so dire that manufacturers are running out of business because of the influx.
"We are here to promote and facilitate legitimate trade such that the business taking place in our country is legitimate and products which are going to be sold in our markets are safe for the people and our country," he noted.
He, however, promised that the government has intensified fake goods monitoring in order to protect Kenyans from harm that may arise.
He acknowledged that the goods are dangerous to human health which is why the war against them is part of the Big Four Agenda and will not stop.
This comes at a time when huge suppliers with big volumes of contaminated products are infiltrating the country and attempting to silence policymakers.
In August, a huge consignment of fake rice and mercury-contaminated sugar was seized trying to get into the market. 1 million bags of fake rice is still being held by the government.
From January to June, second-hand clothes imports into Kenya hit a high of Ksh7.8 billion rising by 20% from the same period in 2017 which stood at Ksh 6.5 billion. This has immensely derailed the government’s plan to boost local products’ consumption.
